Chen Guangcheng's Brother Has Gone Missing

Chen Guangcheng's worst fears have been all but realized: a lawyer for Guangcheng's brother, Chen Guangfu, who also escaped house arrest, says he went missing Friday evening.

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The lawyer told Reuters that Guangfu never returned to his hotel room Friday evening. The last person to see him alive was Zhao Wei, a Shandong supporter of Chen Guangcheng's family, left Guangfu in the afternoon.

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"As of now, there's still no news on Brother Guangfu," the lawyer said. "We're not optimistic. Guangcheng is also very worried. He's contacting friends to look (for him)."

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Chen Guangcheng feared for his family's safety following his initial escape and transfer to the U.S., and this seems to be another retaliation from the Chinese government after his escape. Guangfu escaped from a similar house arrest situation to Guangcheng's just a few days ago. He fled to go to Beijing and try to help his son, Chen Kegui, beat a charge of "intentional homicide" that stemmed from an incident where Kegui fended off local officials with a knife when they broke into house after Guangcheng escaped.